We are not broken-hearted
by forjoealways
Summary: "Friendship isn't about who you've known the longest, it's about who walked in to your life, said "I'm here for you," and PROVED it." Adam Ruzek never knew he needed a friend, until he met…. Charlie. Starts something close to the end of season 3, before the trial scene and everything.
1. Chapter 1 Nobody ever breaks my heart

**A/N: Hello there, folks. I decided it's time for me to try something new. I've been thinking about what and how exactly I wanted to do this, and I came up with the idea to introduce the new character, that I created in my head a long time ago. Burzek story at heart, but it will took a long-long time to work things out between these two. Mainly I want to concentrate on Ruzek's development and his building relationships with the new character, which will play a huge part in both of their lives.**

* * *

Charlie Webber has never been a good girl. She has never done something to please others with her words or actions. If the girl thinks you are a moron, you will sure discover it as soon as possible.

Almost the same characteristics she gave to her fiancé, who after all these eight years decided to become an ex. Charlie found him panting over a black haired young girl right in their own bed the evening she came home unexpectedly early.

"You kidding me, right?" She didn't yell. She just stood there in the doorway, observing the view of her dumbass man with a stranger on her sheets, the man she thought was love of her life, but thank God, he proved her wrong. It was a pity it took so much time to admit this.

"Baby, I..." Kieran was confused, but he didn't even try to find one reasonable explanation, because now it was so obvious for both of them: their relationship died and died a long time ago. Maybe somewhere between her restless shifts in Firehouse 105 as a paramedic and helping out her only brother to move to his new apartment in Chicago. Or maybe between Kieran's tours with his band and countless amount of attempts to record their first album, but everyone knew their band was total shit.

They have been dating since Charlie's sophomore year in high school. She turned seventeen, when he met Kieran: biker with a dragon tattoo on his shoulder. It was big, colorful and a bit spooky. His entire image was giving her the feeling of danger and permanent desire of adventure, and boy, how she liked living on the edge.

Charlie grew up in the Oak Park with her older brother Marcus. Unfortunately, she barely knew her parents, who abandoned the two of their children and ran away from the town. If Marcus had a chance to meet them and collect some memories, Charlie could only assemble a vague image by her brother's blurry descriptions and stories their aunt Helen told them. However, she wasn't always taking care of her nephews.

Some time they were ping ponging from one family to another, mostly separated, so the only thing Charlie ever wanted throughout her childhood was to be with her brother, one and only man she genuinely admired. Kieran was just there, always by her side, so one day she just got used to it. He was fun, hot and available — Charlie has never been a type of a girl, who needed a relationship to feel complete. What's more important, he offered her comfort, freedom and a friendly shoulder, which she could always lean on.  
Only somehow, their friendship ended and there were nothing left to save anymore. Charlie just felt she outgrew him, his desperate music career and — the last but not the least — his desire to fuck other girls under their roof. If it wasn't too much, Charlie didn't know what else.

"Well, I think we should break up." Finally, he came up with the right answer, while that brunette was trying to cover up her naked body with a sheet and sneak out of the bedroom.  
"Sorry, I'll wash it and bring it back." the girl said all of a sudden, running by, that made Charlie burst into laughter.

"Oh you can keep it, darling. No worries." She was practically grinning and couldn't hide the amusement this whole situation delivered. Young brunette hooked her clothes scattered all over the floor and shamefully left the apartment. The moment Charlie heard a loud sound of the slammed heavy door, she turned to Kieran with her hands across her chest and leaned on the wall.

"Well, you should leave too. I have a meeting at Molly's within ten minutes and I don't want you to walk here ashamed and sexually frustrated. It's so depressing."

That was it: blunt behavior.

She wasn't heartless, no way, she felt betrayed the moment she saw his sweating naked ass, but she always tried to look and sound chill, so nobody knew they won by hurting her feelings. She thought it was kind of a game called "don't fuck with my heart" and everybody else should play by her rules.

"But, Charleston..."

"Wow, don't call me that. Chop-chop, sexy beast, your love hours is over!" Charlie started to clean up the mess they have created: picking up pillows and collecting pieces of Kieran's clothes just to throw them right into his face.

"Move!"

Now that was a yelling.

"But it's my apartment." Kieran snapped matter-of-factly.

"Says who?"

"Says papers that I signed when I bought it!"

Charlie rolled her eyes and groaned irritated, continuing to clean the bedroom.

"Never knew you were so peddling. Okay, you can stay for the night, I'll sleep at Marcus's."  
Kieran put on his clothes so furiously he didn't even notice his shirt was inside out.

"So, you have a place to live? That's just fine, cause seriously, Charlie, you are so not kicking me out of my flat."

Of course, she knew he was right, but she was too stubborn to admit it, that she just tightened her lips with an anger in her eyes and then spited out "I'm glad you slept with this girl." After that, she sprinted out of the building with a rage in her chest.  
Not the mood she expected to be in during her partner's birthday party.

Molly's was full for the night. She didn't knew Gavin had so many friends, to be honest. He always seemed closed-up. Great paramedic but an absolute loner when it comes to socializing. However, Charlie found herself surrounded by a crowd of people, more than half of them she didn't even know.

"What is that? Queen of England decided to grab a drink at Molly's? Herrmann must be all over the place." Webber sarcastically uttered, when she saw Sylvie Brett form 51 coming up to her with a beer bottle.

"Huh?" Sylvie frowned with a question mark on her face.

"Where did all this people come from? I thought it would be a family party. Surprised even you guys showed up."

"Yeah… wait, what party?." Brett swallowed her beer and looked at Charlie more confused than before.

"Gavin. Gavin Krasinski? He's my ambo partner, remember?"

Sylvia went with a long "o-o-h", rounding her mouth and replied she didn't even know he had a birthday today.

"He is kinda weird though…" Sylvie added with a squint.

"I know right? You should be grateful for Jimmy. I mean, really grateful." Sylvie nervously chuckled and Charlie placed her hands on her waist, now trying to think of a reason to leave this so called party and go straight to Marcus's place. She didn't feel like getting drunk tonight.

"Hey, where's Kieran?" Sylvia pulled her out of her thoughts and handed a beer.

"We broke up." Charlie said straightforwardly and took a mouthful of her drink since she didn't have a lot of options.

"Oh my god, what happened? When?" The blonde girl almost choked and gazed at Webber with her eyes wide open.

"Like… Fifteen minutes ago. I found him at home test-driving our new bedding. Looked nice from the side." Charlie sounded uncaring, and she actually was, Sylvie seemed to take it more personally, than she would ever do.

"Shit, I'm so sorry. I… well, he's an asshole. You told him that? You should tell him! Ugh, I hate it, why men should always be like this?" Brett started to arguing with the universe and then mimicking Kieran or whoever she thought about, but Charlie wasn't quite listening to her, lazy moving her gaze around the bar. When she returned to Sylvie, who was still talking, she touched girl's shoulder and tried to stop her.

"Brett, it's okay. You don't have to… I mean, I really appreciate your concern. But I actually don't give a single fuck." She sighed in relief and took another sip of her beer. "I think I'm going home. Well, I'm going to my brother's place. This is where I live now, I guess." A crooked smile appeared on her face, but at that moment she also looked so tired, it was obvious, she wasn't ready to party at all.

"Send my greetings to Gavin, if you see him, k? I'm out."

"Oh no, you are not leaving the premises until you do shots with me and Dawson."

"Sylvie, come on… stop, Dawson is here too?"

Once Charlie and Gabriella hanged out together, they've became pretty good mates.

"Everyone is here. I'll set you up with some police. Come on. You don't want to miss all the fun, do you?"

It turned out, she wasn't lying. Everyone from firehouses 105 and 51 gathered celebrating end of their shifts, including some police officers from 21 district she might saw once or twice. Hell of a company and each of them was ready to get wasted tonight.

"You know me well." Charlie shouted to Brett, following her through the crowd.

* * *

Adam Ruzek known as a man, who never missed a party. He never really passes by a good company with free drinks, always full of jokes and stories. Working in intelligence is not always a horror movie, at least Adam knew how to make fun out of any situation. That's who he always has been – an ultimate optimist. But since that painful break-up with patrol officer Kim Burgess, he lost his magic power and became nothing but a shade. How pathetic, how ridiculous it was, but he couldn't help himself, couldn't start to goofing around again, like nothing ever happened. Basically, he didn't know what exactly happened between them, what was the actual reason she called of the wedding, their engagement, their relationships after all. All he knew she just walked away from that locker room, returned the ring he gave to her and never talked to him again. Adam felt like someone just entered the room full of life, joy and happiness and switched all the lights off without no reason. He was always a man, who didn't get any hints, plain and simple. And if Kim were having any problems with him, she surely should have spread them out, unless she decided not to and cut him off like a useless appendix. Maybe not the right description, but he felt the exact way for most of the time for two months. That's why he didn't want to come to that fireman party at Molly's. Atwater reassured him Kim wouldn't be there, but she wasn't the reason he wanted to stay home.

"Don't wanna be the only frown among all the happy faces. I am not a vibe killer, man."

"This is not something to be discussed. You'll bring the booze, I'll bring the girls, deal?"

Girls wasn't really an option for him as well as alcohol. Alcohol could only bring another numbness and depressing thoughts, and any girl on this planet couldn't heal his broken heart. But he gave in since Kevin didn't take no for an answer.

"It would be fun. Or, I swear, I'm going to avoid you outside the precinct from now on."

Adam groaned and took his keys.

"I'll drive."

When they arrived, they witnessed a hell on earth, maybe in a good way. At least, Kevin enjoyed it the first second they came in and already headed to the bar to greet some police and firefighters. Erin, Antonio and Jay were also there. Adam, however, took a pause and, keeping his hand in the pockets, somewhat nervously checked the bar, a little bit scared to meet Kim. He didn't even know what was so scaring. At the same time he was craving to see her, he missed her so much every day and wanted nothing but to be together. Yet the way she has been acting lately was giving him the impression he could be rejected the second he tried to talk to her. He was scared of how cold-hearted she suddenly became.

"911! Someone need help over here!" He heard someone's loud and ringing laughter right next to him. Adam turned his head, expecting to see someone passed out on the floor, but there was just a girl with bright hair, tank top and ripped jeans, and she was coming up to him with a glass of something alcoholic in it.

"You're here for like thirty seconds and haven't drunk anything yet. I'm here to help you out." Yes, she was drunk, pretty drunk, however, she was still in adequate condition, adequate enough to not fall down, although Adam got ready to catch her any minute.

"What's your name… You seem familiar." Girl squinted her eyes and pointed her index finger to him.

"Ehm… Adam." He cleared his throat. "Adam Ruzek. 21st district. Intelligence."

"Oh! Yeah-yeah, heard something about you around here."

"Something good?" Adam answered with a half-smile, not taking his hands out of his pants pockets.

"Um, no. Something drama. You're that guy, who was engaged to Burgess, right? And then fucked things up?"

Adam raised his eyebrows in a big surprise. No one ever talked to him about his relationships, and now there were some kind of dirty details, he didn't even know about. He didn't like what he has just heard, especially from who. He barely knew that drunk sweet face.

"Interesting you're more aware of my personal life than I am." Man scoffed and looked away, now searching for his friend. "And I don't even know who you are."

"Well, this is the easiest problem to solve. Hi, I'm Charlie Webber. And I'm gonna be here all night, because my motherfucking fiancé kicked me out of my apartment. And now I have to live with my brother, but this is the last thing I want to do. I mean, I love Marcus, but, what the actual fuck, why is it me who have to leave? I've done so much for keeping that place in comfortable living condition, because apparently Kieran is five years old and can't function like a grown-up man! And you know what? I ain't his mother! Adam, right?"

Slowly he moved his eyes to Charlie Webber, as she introduced, and found himself some kind of entertained by her drunk speech. He smiled softly and felt a little bit relaxed in this strange company.

"Wow. Looks like I am not the one who fucked things up." He finally replied with a smile not leaving his face, when he had a chance to speak.

"You know, Kieran would love you. You talk just like him. You guys should be friends. And sleep with all of Chicago women ever existed." Charlie snapped right away and drank all of the whiskey she had in her glass.

Adam didn't know why, but he laughed at her, not in a bad way though. She seemed nice and finally he was engaged in something that wasn't involved Kim or people they both knew and used to hang out with. That's why he changed his mind and instead of searching for Atwater, who was already having the best time in his life without him, decided to stay with a drunk girl.

"Looks like we can orginize the broken hearts club, huh?" Adam filled the pause in the dialogue and returned girl's attention to his side.

"I am not broken-hearted. I'm just pissed he evicted me! There's a difference. Nobody ever breaks my heart." Charlie snapped with all gravity, she put her pocker face on, but Adam could feel there was something behind it, however, it was none of his business, so he just nodded and offered her a glass of water or soda.

"I think, you've had enough today."

"Oh, please, don't play daddy. Just pour the liquor, man!" Charlie shouted with enthusiasm and headed to the bar, unceremoniously taking him by the hand.

Adam couldn't say no. This was the first time he felt something, that wasn't causing him pain.


	2. Chapter 2 Decision made

**A/N: This chapter contains one of the key scenes of Burzek story (IMO), which I tried to give a different perspective and to show it from another angle. My main goal is to focus on Adam's point of view and to give him a little character growth/dynamic. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy. Reviews are so welcome.**

* * *

"So, that girl with you at Molly's the other day, who is she?"

Kevin said with a satisfied smile on his face. That evening he forgot he left his friend all alone, while he was surrounding himself with booze and fun groups of girls. A bit motivated by a sense of guilt, he was pleased to discover that Adam finally found someone. Especially given his depressed state lately.

"Making progress, my friend!"

"Oh, come on! It was just a couple of shots and sharing some silly stories. Nothing special." Adam responded with no willing to further discussion of that night.

"Well, at least you've got some fresh air, right? Otherwise, I couldn't have stand your company anymore."

Adam raised his eyebrows and silently grinned, going back to work with files. The last thing he wanted to debate about was his personal life, specifically in these walls. Lately he's been quiet, diminished his past arrogance. He directed all the forces only to serve and protect.

Atwater soon left the Department for the interrogation of the suspect along with Olinsky.

After some time Sean Roman appeared on the horizon to remind about the inventarisation, that Platt loaded on his shoulders. Now it was getting on Adam's nerves.

He felt paranoid. However, since he noticed a frequent communication between Roman and Kim, he couldn't stop the annoyance in man's presence. Jealousy and anger, partly at himself, controlled his whole.

"Hey, Ruzek. Any luck with the laptop?"

"No." Without taking his eyes from the computer Ruzek threw him a strict answer, and only when Roman left with nothing, turned around to hit his back with a sidelong glance.

He wanted to express his indignation to Jay, who was sitting next to him in the room, but restrained the impulse and returned to work.

* * *

On the agenda new shooting on the North side in one of the local cinema theaters. The unknown opened fire on visitors in the lobby. At least ten people dead, five wounded. Many were fortuned to escape safely and call for help. The building sealed off ASAP in an attempt to get in touch with the shooter, to establish contact with him and rescue the remaining hostages. The motorcade of fire trucks and ambulances drove up minutes later, including Charlie and her partner Gavin. She barely slept that night, still settling down in the new place and getting used to the new life, but work always put her on her feet and forced to forget about anything else. In comparison with the shooting, all of the problems seemed void.

Unfortunately, rescue everyone failed, but the important thing that police finally caught the shooter, and Charlie brought back to life a little girl with asthma attack, who lost her inhaler, while she was inside the building. Yet she passed out again in the ambo, Gavin and Charlie drove her to Med and handed over to specialists.

"We need to go back." Gavin said, but Charlie stood behind the patient's room and watched the girl, waiting for her to wake up.

"Webber!" He called louder, tapping girl's shoulder. "We are not supposed to stay here." Then he gasped when he realized that the simple behavioral norms wouldn't move her partner that easily.

"She'll be fine. It's only asthma. You must be grateful that she didn't catch a bullet."

Charlie abruptly broke away from the glass and glanced at Gavin. "Grateful?! What kind of moron would hold a sick child... any child. I mean, what the hell! I would've shot him if I had the chance!"

"You're overreacting. But you are not so long on this job, I understand. You'll get used to it."

Charlie only examined his face with a share of hostility and after that hastily left to the ambulance. Acute sense of justice indeed sometimes prevented her to see things more realistic.

At the exit, she ran into Adam, who arrived at the hospital to see Olinsky. The last few hours Al spent with the victim – a young girl kidnapped several years ago.

They both didn't notice each other first. Both of them were not themselves. Charlie sped past Adam, furiously hitting his shoulder, he turned around to express his dissatisfaction, but when the girl turned around, he recognized his recent friend from the bar.

"Adam?" Asked Charlie, frowning. Now she was too serious and uptight. The complete opposite of the cheerful and frivolous wild child.

"I'm sorry. Tough day."

He nodded.

"Yeah, we heard. The same with us. Nothing new, anyway." Adam shrugged and lifted the corner of his mouth.

"I'd love to chat with you, but..."

He pointed in the direction of the hospital, giving the hint that he had to work.

"Oh, sure. By the way, we are not obliged now to be friends or something. It's just a drinking party at Molly's, right? It was fun. That's it."

Charlie winked at him and got in the car, waiting for Gavin.

Adam wanted to wave her goodbye, but felt like someone tapped him on the back.

"Ruzek, found something new?"

Halstead's anxious face appeared before him.

"This guy, Stommer. Antonio and I interviewed the witness. Found out that he kept in the basement not one, but two girls. Voight sent me to tell Olinsky. He's still with the victim."

"Excellent. Kevin and I, we'll check the house once again. There's something not right inside."

When Halstead left, the ambulance had already disappeared.

* * *

Twenty minutes to the end of their shift, but Chicago has its own rules. That's why Charlie and Gavin were driving on another call. The rest of the time, she was on edge, aggressive and couldn't concentrate on work. Such behavior could cost a life of one woman, who the squad pulled out of a burning building.

"Damn, Weber, what happened with you today?" Gavin yelled at her, tugging her arm, while Charlie unsuccessfully tried to carry out the intubation. "Give me that!"

He took everything under control, shoving her aside. When it was done, he pierced her with reproachful look.

"You drive." He ordered as a senior. Charlie silently sat behind the wheel.

Gavin sent Carlie straight home as soon as they got to the Med and delivered the injured.

"Sleep it off, Weber. If you need to take the day off, please, do. But hold yourself together!"

Charlie nodded, that was all she could pull out of herself. And the first thing she did afterwards called Marcus to see where he was. On the other end of the line she heard cheerful brother's voice — leave a message after the beep. She had been listening to his voicemail for two days straight. At first, she didn't see him due to shifts on the ambulance, but then Marcus just stopped answering her calls and texts and never showed up in his apartment. Now her lost brother occupied all of Charlie's thoughts. He had been her constant headache through the years. In spite of what a nice big brother he was to her, Marcus was always a big one lump of troubles. She wondered if he contacted his old gang, he used to hang out with when he was a teenager and later in his early twenties.

Anyway, the least of all she wanted to go back to his place and wait for him patiently, like she often did, when they were younger. Now it was time for her to rebuild her own life and get her shit together.

It turned out that she didn't have many friends outside of the firehouse and Molly's, so she carried her tired bones to the one and only place she could come up with.

* * *

"Ruzek. Laptop." Roman shouted to Adam, when he appeared at the precinct after his long day of work. Intelligence finally caught the right guy and probably saved a lot of young women out there.

Kim and Sean was finishing their shift, too. Kim had just brought radios to rearrange them. She noticed Adam the minute Sean addressed him the question.

"Seriously?" Ruzek scoffed and shrugged.

"Hey, I heard about a copper getting stripped for six years over a stolen burner phone, so, yeah, I'm serious." Roman snapped with all the gravity.

It got Ruzek immediately. No more playing games and throwing sidelong glances. He wanted to dot the i's and cross the t's and do it right now. This was a hard day. These were hard several weeks and months. Pretty much the hardest he had ever had. He needed to cut the shit and stop torturing himself.

"You know what? You know what I think? I don't think this has anything to do with the laptop. I think it's about her." Adam pointed his finger to Kim, who happened to stay there, between two fires, and witness all the mess she had created. May be, she just hadn't acknowledge it yet.

Adam continued without hesitation.

"You want to bust my balls, look like a tough guy, right?"

"Adam." Kim finally found her voice, but it was too late for talking.

"No. You must see what's happening here. I'm not making it up. Dude's obviously into you. So you know what? You want to date her?" He stepped aside, physically showing he was finally out of this drama, raising his palms in defense of his position. Obviously, this wasn't what he really wanted, but if Kim was fine with it, he would be too. "Be my guest."

"Just get the stupid laptop, Adam!" Kim uttered loudly, ignoring his speech. She was somewhat angry. At Adam, at herself, she was only sorry, that Sean got under the hand. It wasn't his fault, that Ruzek is such an immature ass, she thought to herself.

Adam stopped for a moment by the stairs and just shook his head. He was so pissed right now, he might punch a wall easily, but he restrained himself and ran upstairs as fast as he could.

It was almost midnight, when he landed at the nearly emptied bar and ordered a single drink from Herrmann, who was already cleaning the counter. One drink and then he was going home. He needed to wash this day away with all the mixed feelings it brought to him. No matter how much the last scene at the precinct hurt him, it was also too much to handle. Decision made – moving forward is the only option.

On the other end of the bar there was a girl, sitting with her head in her hands, staring into the phone screen. Adam thought he could give himself a chance and chat for a little bit, but the second later changed his mind and kept silent. The girl lifted her head and glanced at almost the only person at the bar in this hour.

"Well, how long has it been." Charlie said tiredly and sighed.

"Cheers." Adam raised his glass and took a mouthful of his whiskey, then drank it all till the last drop.

"Yuck! How can you drink this?" Charlie flinched in disgust. She was a non-drinker on daily basis, only occasionally.

"Easily. Years of practice." Adam snapped conceited. No, he wasn't ready for any small talks. Only truth or dare. "By the way, you were not so picky a few days ago." He continued, trying to sting her.

"That wasn't me. Someone trapped me in. It's their fault. Please, don't tell my mom." She responded, showing no emotions with a bit touch of sarcasm in her tone.

Adam half smiled, lifting the corner of his mouth and Charlie just went back to the phone screen, tapping something with her finger. After a short pause, it was now Adam's turn to break the silence.

"I won't on one condition. You'll have another drink."

"With you?"

"See anyone else?" Herrmann disappeared in the back room about five minutes ago, probably finishing his accounting work, so there were only two of them, apparently.

"Alright. Let's roll. I guess Christopher won't be mad, if I steal one of… these." Charlie stood up and reached for the bottle behind the bar. "It's a gift. For you being a good police. And an excellent drinking buddy. Like… the best I've ever had."

Ruzek grinned, then smiled widely. For the last few minutes he was thinking about anything but Kim and Roman probably making out in that fucking evidence room. This image annoyingly stuck in his head since he had left the precinct.

Charlie tried on the role of bartender and served Adam hospitably, while he was sitting at the edge of the stool and watching her deftly managing the drinks.

"Charlie." His soft concerned voice touched her ears.

"Yeah?"

"I think I've made a huge mistake."

She suddenly looked up at him and gave him a worried look. Then she opened her mouth to answer, but didn't find the right words. After that, she tried to figure out the question, but she didn't really want to disturb Adam's feelings.

"What do you mean?" she finally said in the lack of options.

"I mean that I am an impulsive prick. I feel so weak that I allowed myself to let her go, but at the same time, you know… I never wanted her to suffer or to feel trapped. All I ever wanted is honesty and a sense of freedom. For both of us. I guess this was not what she wanted, though."

"We're talking about Kim now, aren't we?"

"Yeah…" he said with a small chuckle. "You're attentive. Ever considered to be a police?"

"Ha-ha! Well, I don't know what happened with you two, and I actually don't really want to know, because it won't make any difference. She cheated on you? She told she didn't love you? She… I don't know, slept with your brother?"

"Isn't this counting as cheating?"

"You are not following. She did none of those things, right? Just called off the wedding and stuff. Have you tried to reach her? Talk to her?"

"Several times. She acted like everything was just fine. And now she's going to date Sean fucking Roman, and I've kinda pushed her into his arms."

"Jesus. What an odd middle name."

"You're not following." Adan interrupted her immediately by speaking her own words.

"If she's going to date Sean fucking Roman after everything you've been to, I don't think she is the right Missis. But hey! This is the opinion of the girl, who hasn't even loved her fiancé and still said yes to his proposal. Don't listen to me. Just be honest with yourself… I think it's a toast, we should drink to that, what do you think?"

Charlie raised her glass and took a big sip of a drink. It was so strong that she almost choked.

"I'll drink to that." Adam followed her example and took a mouthful of liquor.

"Adam?" after she stabled her breath and stopped coughing, she glanced at him under her brows and nervously tucked her hair. "I think, my brother got into trouble. Again. And I'm terrified it's something serious this time."


	3. Chapter 3 Nobody will know nothing

**A/N: It took me a while to figure out this chapter. I wanted to write it further, but I guess I'm leaving it this way for now as a teaser for something big.**

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?" It was something close to 4 a.m., when Marcus eventually brought himself home as if nothing happened. He was sober, clean and not injured in any way, he looked oddly normal for someone who had disappeared for more than five days ago.

"Hey, sis! Why are you still awake? Go to bed. Don't you have work tomorrow?"

"Please, don't act like you are caring about me. I don't think you actually worry about my work or my break up, or any shit going on in my life."

Charlie crossed her hands on her chest and looked away; it was too hard for her to not breathing fire at her clueless brother.

"You want to talk about Kieran? Let's talk. So he slept with that slut. Big deal. I lost count on how many times he has cheated on you."

Marcus gave out a chuckle, which Charlie luckily ignored.

"You know. I don't give a damn about him. It has nothing to do with him, gee! It's about you, who's constantly throwing his life in the trash. I am tremendously tired of babysitting. I'm tired of looking after you all the time. My entire life I have been trying to be your fucking catcher in the rye, and after all these years, it would be not bad to give me a call for a change. You know, like, hey, sister, just for the record, I am not dead or something. I'm an irresponsible jerk, but I'm not dead. One. Single. Phone call. You twat!"

By the end of her speech full of fury, she punched him hard in the chest with her clinched fists.

"Okay. Okay. My bad. I'm sorry, alright? I don't deserve you, but we only have each other, so don't be mad at me for too long." Marcus took off his jacket and headed over the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge.

"Okay. I have something going on. You remember that guy Justin I met a couple of years ago? His father is kind of big deal in CPD."

"No." Charlie answered coldly. "You don't usually dedicate me into your business. Since when did you want to get involved in police stuff, by the way?"

"I am not. Just saying his father is a cop, though it might be useful in the future." Marcus smirked full of himself. "He always covered Justin anyway."

Charlie annoyingly pursed her lips and placed her right palm on the forehead.

"So…" she pushed him to continue. Suddenly she felt so exhausted, she could fall asleep the next second.

"So he's back in town to help this girl… a friend of his. A lawyer, widowed mother. Don't know exactly what happened, but there is some guy who dragged her into house invasions, and Justin volunteered to get her out by making a five grand deal."

Now Charlie was listening very carefully and tensely. She didn't like what she had heard, because it was obviously no good news, moreover Marcus had never just told anything, it always meant he took a part in it and this time it smelled like real troubles.

"I don't understand what you have to do with this, exactly." Charlie's exhaustion vanished the next minute, she already knew the nature of his answer, but she wanted to hear it from Marcus anyway.

"Well, promise me you won't yell."

"It depends." Charlie snapped and gave him her best judging look under her brows.

"I reached that guy who threatened Justin's friend, and I want to earn some cash."

"You what? How?" Charlie rounded her mouth in shock and frowned. "Don't say you are going to take part in the robberies!"

"Well, you think I'm an idiot? I am not. I just thought I could make a profit if I convince Justin to step out of this and then keep his offered money to myself. Just imagine five grands! I've never seen this amount of money in my hands at the same time. And the best part nobody will know nothing. "

Marcus took a mouthful of beer and raised his eyebrows in excitement.

"You're playing with fire. There is no chance Justin won't discover you are a shit bag who betrayed him cause of money."

"Ooh, you sound so dramatic. Ha. We're not even friends. If you want to succeed, sometimes you have to be a selfish prick. A prick who will become richer by five thousand."

"You really are an idiot, Marcus. And apparently you don't need any advice, seems like everything is sorted."

Charlie thought he could really change this time, however this conversation proved the complete opposite and all she had to do is to humble herself and keep minding her own business.

"You know what? I'm officially out." She raised her hands showing her palms and stepped aside. "You want to succeed in life, be my guest. Not the success I imagined but if these five grand is everything you need, go ahead. Catch your dream, big boy. I'm going to sleep now. Don't forget to lock the door."

* * *

It had been a couple weeks since Adam decided to move on. Not that he was truly invested, but he had to for his own sake. Though he was still regretting every second in the bullpen that evening when he snapped at Kim, he tired of living in limbo. Instead of wasting time on drinking alone, he put all his leftover energy on the new friend from the firehouse. After the night they spent in Molly's washing each other's souls with liquor and revelations Adam came to a conclusion that Charlie was the only person right now he wanted to talk to. The only company he was able to tolerate. Atwater would always be his best friend, the only partner in crime etc., but now it became a little complicated for Adam to share with him due to the simple fact he was still Kim's friend. It meant no conversations about her, or Sean, or their relationships. Kevin just couldn't think objectively. And despite that they had a lot of other topics to discuss, with time Adam distanced himself from everything that might have reminded him of Kim.

So firehouse 105 in this light sounded like the best place on earth to be. That's what Ruzek did when he finished his work at the district — headed straight to the firehouse to meet Charlie. She didn't even know he'd come.

Lost in her thoughts about brother and everything he told her a few days ago she went out to the car, when all of a sudden Adam appeared in front of her.

"Oh god! You are what, a ninja? Never do this again or I will cut you with a knife."

He laughed in surprise.

"You carry a knife? Seriously?"

"It's Chicago, baby. And the place I grew up in taught me it's normal to keep something sharp in case of danger. Anyway, what's up?" She asked then casually.

"Well, I thought you may want a good company." Adam answered with a crooked smile and continued more seriously. "Actually, I can't stand being in my head right now. Thought maybe you could shake it off a little bit. You happened to handle it surprisingly well."

Charlie opened her mouth for response but it took her a while to get it together. Everything was so blurred at the moment.

"Um… Sorry, Adam, I don't feel like hanging out tonight or talking to anybody at all." She finally uttered and opened the car.

"What do you mean? What happened?" By the frown on his face she could see his concern, but the last thing she wanted was to bother people, especially ones she had just met."

"Family stuff. I'll deal with it, never mind." She gave him a smile, definitely fake, but it was easier this way.

"Wait, is it about your brother? Has he showed up?"

Charlie nodded after a short pause with no willing to discuss it in the first place.

"Yup, fresh and new like never before. Everything will be fine, I'm telling you. Now I want to leave."

Charlie didn't bother to excuse herself twice, when she finally sat into her car and slammed the door.

"Easy." Adam said and stepped aside, letting her go. But since she had got inside, she didn't move, gripping the steering wheel.

"You know how to drive, don't you?"

Instead of starting the engine, she went silent for a few minutes, sitting there completely numb. Adam opened the door and placed himself next to the girl on the passenger seat.

"Hey, look at me." He pronounced gently. What was so special about her? Adam couldn't figure out. There wasn't anything specifically, just a strong will to avoid his own problems until they dissolve completely. He knew it wouldn't make any difference, yet this was the most comfortable state he'd been in for a long period. Focusing on somebody you don't really know was the best therapy so far. In addition, Charlie was actually a very nice person, who had been good to him, at least honest.

Charlie, with all her desire to share the one piece of mind that had been torturing her, remained silent. She even restrained herself to give Adam a single glance, kept drilling the dashboard with her watering eyes. Out of nowhere, she felt so sick and vulnerable; she could burst into tears any minute. Clutching her teeth helped. Feeling pain helped. Any method would be right until it helped to get rid of all the miserable thoughts.

"See, I don't want to talk either, to be completely honest with you. I just don't wanna sit alone at my place and watch talk shows, like my aunt always did, when I came to visit her. She…" Adam strove to continue his small talk, but the next second Charlie shut him up with a question and a somewhat wild look, finally breaking away from the dash.

"You've got an aunt?"

"Yeah… why? Is it too odd for the place you grew up in?" The slightest chuckle left his mouth and it made her smile a bit too. Ice moved.

"No, just… It's always so weird and exciting how you learn something new about people. Like I didn't even expect you to come by and now you're telling me about your family. Or that time when Marcus showed up after a week and told me he got involved with criminals. That was the most exciting part."

Sarcastically or not, she gave Adam the answer to his previous question.

"By the way, our aunt Helen, she partly raised us. The only parent I've ever had."

Silence returned and filled the gaps of their ripped conversation. Adam sat there, slowly organizing Charlie's last words in his head.

"What he's up to exactly?"

"Okay, I was scared to tell anybody, but there is a person who might be familiar to you. So as to the rest of your unit. It's Justin, your boss's son, as far as I got it right."

"You mean Justin Voight? He is the criminal?" Adam raised his brows.

"No, Marcus said he knows a woman who is in contact with robbers. They do home invasions. She got in some troubles with them, and Justin wanted to help her by offering those guys some money. But my dumb brother is now planning to intervene personally, to play the part of negotiator and hold at least a half of money to himself. I won't be surprised if he even ends up robbing houses with them."

"You should've told me or somebody. Go to police the next minute."

"You mean, hand over my brother?" She scoffed with her mouth a bit open. "I guess I'm not that righteous as you think I am."

"We would come up with something, we would help him. He's done nothing by far."

"Adam, my brother is not a victim here or a child who was dragged into this by some bad guys. He's a grown-ass man and he, like, chose to do so. No one pulled the strings or ordered. So how you imagine that? Me walking into a precinct and telling my brother implicated in organized crime? Wow. See, there was reason why I didn't want to tell anybody. I thought maybe it would resolve itself somehow. Just another quirk, they always end well. My brother is a tenacious cockroach, you know. But this time… I don't know. The most awful thing he doesn't understand what he is doing, who he is playing with. He always thinks it's a game or something."

Adam was listening to her patiently, giving her time and space to share, seemed like she needed this a long time ago. And when she finally stopped talking and sighed, he scratched his eyebrow, placed his hands on his knees and after a short while began to speak.

"Okay, don't panic. Try to talk to him once again. Eventually he will admit the entire idea was wrong and stupid. You can call him right now and then we grab some pizza. Deal?" Adam was optimistic, the quality Charlie couldn't boast of frequently, however she decided to give it a chance and dialed Marcus the next moment.


	4. Chapter 4 I'm coming with you

"Hey, Munchkin. What's wrong?" It took Marcus exactly eight beeps to pick up the phone. The sound of his cheerful voice gave Charlie hope she overreacted earlier, and now she could loosen a rope on her neck and take a deep breath. She practically sighed in release and answered randomly.  
"What? New phone, who's this?" The joking manner she always used when feeling uncomfortable or anxious. Marcus laughed in response and assured his sister that everything was okay.  
"I'm sitting in our living room right now, eating fast food you left me and watching Top Gear. And I strongly suggest not joining me and finding a way to spend your evening more exciting than this."  
"Well, there was an offer." Charlie looked at Adam, who was amused by her answer, then he smiled crookedly. "Marcus, about that thing you've told me lately. I know I said I won't stick my nose in it, but I have been thinking, maybe you should reconsider your decision. I still don't think it's a good idea to mess up with people like that. And I recommend you to stay away from Justin, too. You don't need money this much. Please, think over. Okay, I said it. Was not going to, but you know me, I couldn't resist."  
"Slow down, Mother Teresa. I'm a big boy, right? Don't worry at all. It's not, like, Chicago mafia, huh. Just a bunch of naughty kids with their ways of doing business. It doesn't even matter, sis. Speaking of matter, since we're living together again, we could do some redesign. New life, new house, all that shit. I know you'd love to have a hand in this. Your obsession with paint is creepy."  
"But it smells so good!" She shouted ecstatically, which confused Adam a bit, while he was still sitting by her side. She covered her mouth in embarrassment for her bluntness. Adam instinctively uttered it was okay.  
"Hey, Mar, we'll discuss it when I return, good? Now I have to go. Bye."  
"Have a productive evening, Munchkin, if you know what I mean." The moment Marcus heard the notes of a male voice, he teased her with a fake awe and hastily ended the conversation.  
Charlie rolled her eyes and smiled, putting her phone back into the pocket of her jacket. "So, pizza time?" Adam nodded, when she had already turned up the engine and pulled away.  
"Look, it actually works!" He snapped ironically, referring to Charlie's recent issue with the car, but instead of answer, she wrinkled her nose, pressing the gas pedal down.

* * *

By the time they arrived at the diner Charlie completely reverted to her former state as normal and socially active person. Half the night she was making jokes and trying to entertain Adam, though he was quite joyful himself. It seemed that he had completely forgotten about that sense of gigantic longing that continued to haunt him all these days. After they took a break from laughing their asses off and sat in silence for a minute, Charlie decided to change the topic out of regard.  
"So how are the things going with your princess and the laptop guy?"  
Adam cringed barely noticeable.  
"Why you have to ruin my perfect pizza time, this is cruel. I have no interest in "laptop guy", but I guess it's over with Kim. Like, officially. There was a time I was hoping we had just a big fat misunderstanding, which we could fix somehow. But everything went south, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here with you."

"Oh, thank you."  
He winked and took another bite of his deep dish.  
"Okay. You know what? No more drama. For both of us. Not that I'm being heartless, but I'm glad we met in such circumstances. Maybe I've never found a buddy like you."  
"This is sweet. Can you pass me a napkin and a straw?"

* * *

Charlie came home past midnight. She drove Adam to his place firstly and then headed back to hers. Feeling a bit tired but pleased with the evening, she flew upstairs with a half smile on her face. She craved to chat with Marcus since they had left all the hassle behind. Besides, the idea of renovating their habitat inspired her so much, that she could discuss the details all night long restlessly.  
"Mar! I'm home!" She shouted from the doorway, completely ignoring the fact that the door was already opened. Walking further into the hall she began to notice an odd mess and tiny shards of glass all over the floor.  
"Marcus?" Her voice slightly shook, the picture in front of her eyes was everything she saw in her worst nightmares, but when she finally entered the kitchen, that scary dream came true. Marcus was lying on the tile covered in blood all over his face and a little on his clothes. He was conscious, but barely able to speak, not to mention to budge.  
"Jesus, Mar! What the actual fuck?!" Charlie was so frightened and stressed, that she was more likely to give out a tantrum instead of trying to help him to stand up. Anyway she threw herself on the floor beside her brother and gently cupped his face with her palms.  
"Who did this to you? Can you talk?"  
Marcus just scoffed as much as he was able to and spitted some blood on the floor. His eyelids were hardly opened and it looked like he could pass out any second.  
"I'm calling an ambulance." She pulled out her phone with her shaking hands, when Marcus tried to stop her, putting all the strength he had at the moment.  
"I'm fine." He whispered barely breathing and holding his hands on the stomach.  
"Fine my ass! You're going to hospital and then I'm going to police! This is enough."  
Marcus had another try to prevent any of his sister's actions, but she was already speaking to an operator. When she hung up, he swallowed painfully and helped to raise himself, but it ended up vainly.  
"Please, don't tell anything. You hear me? I'll say I was attacked on the street, that's all. I don't want to drag you into this." Breathless at last he closed his eyes and went silent until paramedics entered the apartment and carried him away.  
"I'm coming with you."

Charlie was not confused. That wasn't the exact word. But she certainly couldn't understand a bit in everything had happened. She had been preparing for the worst-case scenario all this time, but when one of them became the reality, she was not ready to admit it, to believe that someone sneaked into their house and beat the shit out of her brother for no reason. As much as she knew about it, she was stubbornly convinced in Marcus's innocence. That is what family does — love you no matter what, and Marcus was the only family she basically had. The only person she held on to, could trust her life and deeply cared. No Kierans or even friends. She knew this was not always right — to forget about everyone but troubled brother and his constant desire of adventure, instead of dedicate her time to people who actually gave a fuck. However, it was all she had ever known in her life — helping Marcus, getting him out whatever happens, leaving all the rest behind. So this time wasn't an exception. She was going to spend the night at Med if needed, just to make sure that he didn't get any serious injuries.  
As always she didn't call anyone either. It was a straight disrespect for her to bother others, especially in the middle of the night. Besides, she felt not even more comfortable to stay alone in his hospital room, but also advisable, since she couldn't figure out what would be the best decision — to tell cops everything or to keep silent and just forget about past week. Some time earlier Charlie wouldn't have imagined she thought about choosing, but at some point she felt the second one was right for Marcus, for their own peace. Selfishly right. Fortunately or not she didn't know Justin nor the girl he wanted to save. That was none of their business anymore, and by the end of the second hour she had spent at the hospital, she kept things as they were usually: Marcus and she against the world.


	5. Chapter 5 The guilt

Charlie wouldn't answer Adam's calls. No way. And with all his understanding, with all simplicity which their sudden so called friendship carried, he couldn't arrange his thoughts in proper order and leave his attempts without an explanation. He couldn't bear another time when people leave whenever they want.  
Unfortunately, he started to question everything he did lately. Each and every move he made towards people he liked at some point, each word he said — all of this had been causing doubts in his head. He was still blaming himself for everything that happened with Kim.  
By the time Adam lost hope to contact Charlie and decided to leave it that way, standing in his kitchen, he reached for a glass of water, but just a moment after that heard the vibration of his phone on the counter.  
"Kev." He answered the call shortly, not expecting to discover what he did the next second.  
"Man, head out. Al called, said one of our patrols shot a civilian."  
That was an awful thing to hear, but Adam knew it was something more than what his partner had just delivered.  
"One of patrols? Who?"  
"I don't know for sure. Couldn't get more. You know this old cop…" Atwater's voice sounded pretty nervous.  
"Kev, you think it's Kim?"  
"This is what I caught. Honestly, I don't know, bud. Let's roll."

Adam's heart was ready to jump out of his chest through this throat any second. The closer they were getting to the scene and the more he managed to saw, the more he was getting frightened.  
When they arrived, he finally knew what had happened — Sean was already taken to Chicago Med and Kim was standing there by Olinsky, Voight and Lindsay with bloodied collar and a shocked look on her face, trying to report on situation.  
"You okay?" Adam took a few steps towards Kim, peering into her shifty eyes. He afraid if he came a little closer, he would never be able to release her from his arms. He wanted to touch her so badly, to make sure she was okay, but everything she did was dodging and looking for any detail about Roman's condition.  
"Yes. How's Sean?"  
He looked away painfully. There was nothing he could do to make her notice it, there was nothing that could turn back time. They became actual strangers to each other at the snap of a finger, which Kim herself was so terrified of the whole time they had been dating. Adam was now sadly recalled that conversation back in the days: we are not breaking up. Sounded so nonsense to him, so surreal, but today it was a constant reminder that nothing ever lasted forever. He could even laugh at this statement, feeling the irony, but that wasn't amusing in any kind of way. At some point the whole we're strangers thing was fair, considering Adam's behavior with Roman and their rough break up, not to mention the timing was awful in general to expect something more welcoming than he got from her. He had to swallow all this.  
Adam stepped aside and joined the rest of the crew to find out what they had already discovered.

Place a young black man, add the lack of a gun and season with police racism and you will see a city exploding with hatred. Like it had happened in Chicago this time when Kim Burgess shot in fact innocent guy, who was just walking by from one block to another after a break up with his girlfriend. What a shame for a white female cop.  
Except for that Kim knew she caught the right guy. She just hadn't got enough evidence to prove it. Basically, everything pointed to her carelessness and incompetence. In the eyes of society she appeared as another cop shooting black man for no reason. As well as it was good for the press to have another burning topic on the agenda.  
For Kim it became the living hell, the worst nightmare. Barely three years ago she used her weapon in action for the first time and worried about it a lot. Now she was all over the news, accusing of attack on the unarmed civilian and suspended from duty. Not a career twist she expected.  
On the other hand, she felt a tiny piece of light inside her the moment Adam Ruzek, the man she had been trying to avoid, just sat there in the locker room in front of her and gave her the best comfort she could imagine. She almost forgot how this man always made her feel better about herself, more confident and protected. Even after they broke up, she felt like she wasn't alone, because Adam would never let this happen in a lifetime.  
By the time she nodded on his statement, that he got her back and he deeply cared about her, she barely remembered about her developing relationships with Roman. She was dying to know he was okay, but the fact that they were dating just slipped out of her head.  
Much less she thought about it when Peter Stone, her attorney, showed her those shots from the security camera, where she and Sean were kissing. In no way she would believe that this kind of stuff could be used against her, but now that was almost the main problem in her line of defense.  
Nothing seemed to her as much horrible as her court interrogation. She was so nervous and felt so much pressure, she could even hear her own voice shaking every time she started speaking. Although she attempted to remain calmness and made sure she answered everything as appropriate as possible, the worst were about to happen and she didn't even know the nature of this disaster. Not until state prosecutor asked her one simple question:  
"How long you and your partner, Sean Roman, have been in a sexual relationship?"  
Kim's blood froze in her veins, the fear squeezed her chest. She glanced at Adam immediately, trying to act cool, but the pained and vulnerable look on Adam's face made her feel like a complete shit in that very moment. For a second everything just went blurred and unimportant to her: the case, people in the courtroom, tensed Peter Stone, who was trying to set an eye contact with her to make sure she would not mess this one up. But at that moment she only cared about how unfair and painful that was to the man she once loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with, the man who was still showing his concern after all. The way he found out about this was wrong, Kim realized she made a mistake, when she didn't tell him about Roman that time in the locker room or anytime in the past few weeks. Now she regretted she hadn't even spoken to him, it wasn't a mature decision, and Adam didn't deserve this.  
She swallowed a lump in her throat and finally found the voice.  
"Officer Roman and I had just began to see each other." Kim answered lifting her chin. Strictly and straight up. She couldn't fix everything at once, at some point she thought it was no longer necessary, and all she could do right now was defending herself and her partner. At the end of the day, her work was the only thing she had in life, and she just couldn't let someone throw it in the trash by insinuating something about her affairs.

Adam hadn't found enough strength and self-control to sit through the whole interrogation, he lowered his head when Kim continued to speak, and a few minutes after he just jumped from his seat and left the premises. The first thing he wanted to do was to punch something nearby, but luckily restrained himself and prevented troubles he might have got. That wasn't reasonable, he knew he should stay calm, the rage wouldn't help, it only would make things worse, so he had just started pacing from one corner to another in the lobby, attracting all the passing-by eyes.  
Not a long time passed when Atwater appeared in the hall and came up to Adam, who was now sitting on the bench, trying to organize everything he happened to hear. Though he was still pretty tempered, he didn't leave the courthouse, but he didn't really know why.  
"Man, you okay?" Kevin asked carefully, placing himself next to his friend.  
The only thing he had got was Adam's long sigh. After a pause Adam began to talk, not lifting his head.  
"I feel like a train has run over me, and Kim was sitting there all the time, while fucking Roman was throwing the wood for keeping the full speed. Is it an accurate description? Because I can't find any other words to tell you how okay I am right now." Adam threw his hands in the air and leaned back on the bench.  
Now It was Kevin's turn to give out a sigh.  
"I'm sorry. It sucks. If it's any help, I knew nothing as well."  
Adam smiled nervously and raised his eyebrows. The messiest thing was no one could make any difference, but Kim herself. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he had the right to demand anything from her, because she was a free woman who could do whatever she wanted, Adam only wished it didn't hurt so much. Not to mention, he kind of threw her into Roman's arms by himself. Maybe he was a little mad at her, that she kept avoiding him and then just moved on like nothing ever happened between them. Though this situation always confused him, eventually he made peace with it. But now everything became real. The break up was real, Kim caressing Roman's cheek in the patrol car was real, their kiss was damn real, too. Adam was somewhat hoping someday he would wake up from this nightmare and find Kim lying next to him, however the more he was running away from reality, the more it was crawling under his skin until filled his whole that he couldn't even catch a breath. He even began to suspect, that everything was planned. The anger and jealousy eclipsed his eyes and distorted his perception completely, he really started to think Kim had been lying to him and seeking for the dumbest excuse to leave his side.  
He place his head in his hands and after a few seconds stood up abruptly.  
"It doesn't matter, Kev. Not anymore, okay? I'll be fine. Look at me. I almost got there." Adam winked in a fake manner. "I hope she will be justified. I know she will be, we all know what this little prick did." He placed his hand on Kevin's shoulder to assure his friend he didn't have to worry about him. "Go there, I think she needs a friend. I'll head to the district, have some stuff to finish."  
When Ruzek finally left the building, Atwater caught Burgess in the middle of the lobby, when Stone and the rest of their team were coming down.  
"Hey, girl. You did great. Everything went fine."  
"I don't know anything, Kev. It was horrible. I feel like I can't handle this anymore." Kim removed a strand of her hair behind her ear with a shaking hand, and once Atwater noticed this, he grabbed her hands and made her look at him, convincing everything would be alright.  
"You can do this. Burgess, come on, you can do anything. I know who you are and what an A-class police you are. Besides, Stone is a hell of a lawyer, he managed to lock Voight up, do you think it's a big deal for him to bring this kid to clean water? Come on." This was the best cheering speech Kevin could deliver at the moment, and Kim appreciated every word he said, but she suddenly looked over the lobby, searching for the only man she could think of.  
"I'm not a really great person though..." After a short pause she continued. "Have you seen him?" She lowered her voice, when someone from the gang passed by. She didn't want anyone to hear she was talking about Ruzek, since she was not supposed to. Irrelevant to the current situation.  
"Yes." Kevin didn't want to develop this conversation as well, so he answered poorly.  
"I bet he cursed me in every possible way. I know it's the last thing I need to think about right now. I know I have so much on my plate... I just can't, ugh, cope with that look on his face." Kim groaned and rolled her eyes stressfully.  
"You know, you're both my best friends. But it's none of my business frankly. I think you two should talk. I always thought this way, but, again, no pressure. It's your life, guys."  
Kim only nodded, she understood everything her friend tried to say to her, but she couldn't think of anything that would make the whole situation with Adam better right now. One way or another he was in the past, and maybe it was all wrong and she would regret every minute of them being apart, but now she was with Sean, who was still remaining in the hospital and fighting for his life. At last, she wasn't even sure whether Adam wanted to be with her in the first place, or was it just his pained male ego.  
"Thank you." She practically whispered and then Voight came to them to say it was time to go.  
"Are you ready?"  
"Yes, sir." Kim brushed off every needless thought, straightened, then walked out of the courthouse and headed to their car through a load of journalists and a crowd of people with insulting posters, who kept attacking her, until the whole team drove away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay. If there's anybody out there who is still interested in this story, I finally found an inspiration to continue and now I'm welcoming you to follow this journey with me. Hehe. Hope you enjoy!**

"This is the last time. But if there's a chance you could share a beer with me, it would be nice. I'm at the district and about to leave. So give me a hint yes or no or fuck off. It's Adam by the way."

He was pissed so he acted a bit agitated, leaving Charlie this message on her voicemail. The first and the last time, as he said. He didn't like the way he felt nor the situation he had dragged himself into. And the last thing he wanted to do is to sound desperate, especially to people he barely knew — Charlie for example. But out of all she was the least annoying to hang out with, so he made his call.

After Adam didn't get any answer, he grabbed some of his stuff upstairs and stormed out of the precinct to his truck. Was it sort of a cruel joke that every of few people he wanted to talk chose to ignore him?

The sound of incoming message on her phone woke up Marcus but not Charlie. She was finally asleep after restless 30 hours which she had spent in the hospital. But by the time he moved and sat up in his bed, she slowly opened her eyes and immediately threw herself to her brother's side.

"You alright? Need anything? Let's call a nurse. I'll call."

"Let's not make a fuss. You've got a message." Marcus nodded towards her phone on the chair where she just tried to have some rest, but she noticed nothing and kept busing herself around Marcus, making sure his pillow is comfortable enough and all that caring bullshit she used to do.

"Okay, okay, stop it. Stop for a sec. I'm fine. Charlie, I'm fine!" Marcus had to raise his voice to make her look at him at last.

She did stop but that sharp and serious stare she gave her brother spoke for itself.

"Fine, huh?" She spat out aggressively. "Fuck you, okay? What the hell was that?"

Marcus rolled his eyes and Charlie wanted nothing but to slap him and made a huge effort to restrain herself.

"Don't talk to me like it was nothing. I found you bleeding out on the floor. Remember? You don't want to go to the police, okay, I get it. I even agreed to silence, cause you asked. But don't you dare act like it's not a big deal. Or next time I'll walk in and stumble on your corpse!"

Marcus shushed her when Dr. Halstead came in and pulled on a smile. Charlie just scoffed in natural disgust of his behavior and it took her a second to finally face Will.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I need to check on you, buddy." Will uttered in a friendly manner and put some antiseptic on his hands. "Give us a minute."

Charlie nodded, grabbed her phone and left the room.

"She's not in a good mood." Marcus added trying to be positive, which made Charlie shake her head, since she could still hear everything.

She looked through her phone and found a voicemail from Adam.

She groaned internally.

Charlie was never that type of person who ignored people and always tried to call back, but the past day was such a disaster that she skipped every call or message on purpose. She didn't feel sociable at all. And now she wasn't ready to talk to anybody either, though she felt a little guilty. Not for the ignoring, but for the promise she gave her brother, she really did want to tell someone what actually happened the other night in order to finally put Marcus in his place and to do the right thing for a change. Especially after this morning when he showed no interest in making some improvements in his miserable life.

She sighed and leaned on the wall behind her, torturing her own mind with an endless succession of thoughts.

Luckily, Dr. Halstead interrupted that torture by showing up in front of her, when he was done examining Marcus.

"So the good news, he will definitely survive." He tried to pull a joke and smiled sincerely from ear to ear, but it didn't lift her spirits at all. Will switched to seriousness the next moment and cleared his throat a bit.

"He has a slight brain concussion but I would recommend to leave it for some time under Dr. Rhodes observation. See if some side effects appear, his blood pressure still hasn't returned to normal, and Marcus still can't remember half of what happened to him. You know I have to report the case but given the state of your brother, I'll leave you to it, when he's ready."

Will put his hand on Charlie's shoulder and by his worried look he tried to assure her that everything was going back to normal. Will did not know then that this whole mess Marcus made himself, and now pretended that he had lost his memory just to get rid of everyone's attention so he wouldn't have to deal with cops. Marcus wanted to make it unnoticed. If it was his will, he would have never come to the hospital, but once arrived, he was trying to slip away as soon as possible.

Charlie smiled stiffly and silently nodded in appreciation for caring.

"You want coffee or something? I can ask Maggie to bring you something to eat."

"Oh, no. Don't worry. I'm fine. And thank you."

The nurse ran past them, called for Halstead to check another patient, so he briefly nodded and walked away.

Charlie didn't know what to do, but to go back to Marcus was a bad idea at the moment since anger was still bubbling inside, so she instinctively went to the vending machine and five minutes aimlessly staring at the glass surface not able to focus her sight on anything. She indeed wasn't hungry, and a pack of crisps she had finally chosen was just for not to leave empty-handed.

Returning to her brother's room, she took out her phone, unlocked the screen to check time and new notifications, and then again shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. When she pushed the shutter, obstructing the room, she found only an empty bed and teared off tubes on the crumpled sheets.

"You son of a bitch..." she cursed under her breath, and already raced in the ER straight to the exit, trying to catch his eye, but it was vainly. He left enough time ago to not get caught successfully.

"I need your help."

Now it was Adam's turn to ignore everyone, not that he did this purposely, but the moment he arrived at his apartment he barely remembered anything, drunk and numb. He crashed on the sofa and fell out of reality for good ten hours until someone woke him up with loud and heavy knocking on his door.

"The fuck you doing here?"

Not the welcome she was expected but considering Adam's state, mental and physical, it was some sort of nice one. She had to be thankful he didn't send her straight to hell.

"Jeez, you look like shit." Instead of saying sorry like she planned, Charlie blow a whistle and scanned him from head to toe.

"I'm not in the mood for your comments, okay? What do you want?"

Anger, hangover, nausea, the mix of bitter emotions and painful memories — all of those weren't helping, so the bark he threw at Charlie was a pretty perfect aftermath of everything he'd been through past few weeks, even months.

"I… well, probably I shouldn't have come. Sorry for disturbing."

He groaned and pulled her into his apartment. He wasn't ready for anybody's bullshit anymore.

"Ah, don't give me that. I asked you a question." Adam blurted out toughly, that made Charlie stop for a second and look at him in concern.

"You're alright?" He looked away with a touch of disgust in his eyes — this question was getting more and more irritating. When she didn't get an answer she caught a hint and filled the gap when she sighed and lowered herself on the couch.

"So what happened?" It took a moment for him to cool off, but once he did, he seemed sorry for his previous bluntness. Adam sat in front of Charlie and raised his eyebrows.

"It's Marcus. I found him yesterday at our place, nearly beaten to death. They took him to the hospital, but he ran away a couple hours ago and I have no idea where. I'd try to reach out to those guys if I had any leads."

Adam listened with all ears but silenced for a while processing the information. More than that he was trying to clear his foggy mind.

"Well, I have one and it's you. You can bring me to Voight. I guess he knows how to find his own son."


End file.
